Moment
by Lina Trinch
Summary: A series of drabbles, oneshots, and deleted scenes featuring Arthur and Ariadne, because the movie just wasn't enough. Chap 4- Ariadne is worried if Arthur will make it out of Level 2.
1. Understand

**Ahhhh, this movie x.x I had to write **_**something **_**for it. Not to mention that I was in love with the AxA pairing by the time he was showing her what paradoxs were. The kiss just solidfied my believe that Nolan intended the pairing. Talk about ecstatic.**

**This is the first time I'm writing a fic like this. One that follows the movie, without branching off into my own thing. Course, I'd expect something like that at some point in the future.**

**At the moment, I have two ideas for this fic. After that, it's going to be free game, but let's not dwell on that just yet. First, let's get Juno and Tommy together XD.**

**To make it clear, this is a collection of deleted scenes from the movie that I just made up. I'm sure most will include the AxA pairing, if not all.**

**ATTENTION: I'm 99.8% sure that the math Arthur is feeding Saito is wrong. Like badly wrong. But I tried and used a calculator and remembered that I suck at math. I looked back at the movie, but it didn't help a whole lot. What with my mad math skillz being at level 5. So, yeah. Besides, it's a fanfiction, anyway. lol**

**Don't own Inception, obviously. I hate disclaimers. They're kinda pointless, you know. I mean, what if I told you I **_**did **_**own it? What would you do? Just review and tell me, NU-UH? I **_**guess **_**I **_**could **_**be sued... but it still doesn't make sense... WHATEVER. FIC.**

**o0o**

The rain splattered against the windows lining the warehouse. That was the first thing he could hear. The pain in his shoulder shot through the rest of his body and he took in a hagard breath. Delicate fingers continued to wrap cloth around his bullet wound.

Saito opened his eyes, his vision annoyingly blurred, as he caught the form of a petite feminine figure standing above him.

"Is that too tight?," Ariadne asked, noticing their client was awake now.

The man coughed, trying to form words in his drying throat. He took in a few more breaths before asking, "What are you doing?"

"Dressing your wound," she told him, looking back to her work.

"But why?," he asked in a hoarse whisper. He already knew he was going to die in this dream and had accepted that he was going to fall into limbo, just like they told him he would. The words '_no room for tourists_' continued to repeat itself in his skull.

She continued to dress his wound, glancing up to him seldomly. "If we can finish the job before the worst happens, then you'll be fine. I'm trying to buy you some more time. Buy all of us some more time."

Mulling the information over, he gave a light nod, his breaths scratching against his throat. They each stayed silent for a few minutes, the only sounds coming from his breathing, her wrapping his wound, and Eames' screaming echos for Fischer before they eventually died away.

Swallowing a lump of air, he finally decided to ask what was on his mind. "How long do I have?," he asked, her hurt face looking towards him. He honestly just wanted to know. Did he have enough time for them to finish the job? What about in the other levels? How long did his time add up in level 2? Level 3?

Ariadne opened her mouth, nothing coming out. She honestly didn't know what to tell him. If she was right, he wouldn't last much longer here. In the next level or the one after that, she had no idea. She blinked at him. "I'm not really sure," she whispered back, telling him the truth. She had an idea, but she didn't want to tell him the wrong answer for a question like this.

A calm, yet strained voice drifted from the door. "You probably have about two hours," Arthur said, leaning against the doorframe.

Saito moved his head, which was more work than he thought it would be, to look at the speaker. Ariadne turned to Arthur, but she couldn't decide whether she wanted him to shut up or keep talking. Then again, she supposed that was up to Saito himself.

Their client continued to look at the point man, so Arthur took that as a sign to continue. He walked from his place by the door to stand beside Ariande, trying to take his strides as calmly as possible. In a lower voice, he kept going. "If we were to go to the next level now, that should add up to a day. Twenty four hours in level 2 would equal a little over a month in level 3." He then swallowed a lump in his throat. "Though, that's if we were to leave right now."

Ariadne opened her mouth to ask, but hesitated and waited if Saito wanted to know, first.

Apparently, he did. His scratchy voice asked, wavering, "How long until we leave?"

Arthur kept his stoic facade, as he replied, "At least another hour." Some tense seconds passed between them, each looking away from one another. "I'm sorry," his voice whispered again, straining to stay calm.

Saito's eyes rolled over to meet the point man's. "Not your fault," he tells him, swallowing air again and looking towards Ariadne, "Not either of your faults."

The architect glanced away from his gaze and looked back the floor, but Arthur's jaw clenched as he nodded. "It's Cobb's," he said, feeling her eyes on him again while Saito looked back to him. Arthur continued, still looking to their client, "Neither of you had to come here. Why he allowed it is beyond me."

"Arthur," she whispered, but it's too late.

His eyes are already back to the floor. "No, it is my fault," he revised, "He didn't know there was a danger here. I did."

"Arthur," she said more sternly before he can say something else, her hand grasping his arm. "Come on," she beckoned him away, tugging on his arm and turning him towards the door leading to the rest of the warehouse, where they had left the car and taxi. He allowed her to basically drag him away.

Saito watched the two walk away, as he let his eyes close for another few seconds.

o0o

Ariadne had let go of his arm as they slowly walked towards the maroon car Cobb had driven in, the entire front bumper horribly dented in on the left side. She didn't look at him as she just plainly told him, "This is not your fault."

"Partly, it is. Just like it's partly Yusuf's for trusting Cobb and Cobb's for not trusting us at all," he tensely replied, looking to the car. Arthur was still mildly curious as to why a damn train had found them in the city, especially if it wasn't part of the design, but his anger and fear out weighed his curiousty.

She quickly turned to him, her expression somehow strong. "It doesn't matter who's fault it is. Not right now."

"It's going to matter when we're all dead and stuck in limbo," he hissed back, turning his gaze on her, but she didn't waver.

"No, it won't," she shot back, "Nothing's going to matter then. We just have to survive with what we have." He scoffed and looked away from her. "We can't change what's already happened, Arth-"

"You shouldn't even be here!," he barely shouted, his voice only rising above hers, "Neither you or Saito were supposed to be here and he's already dying!"

She let her voice rise above his in an effort to get through his skull. "We insisted to be here! That was our choices!"

"Cobb is the leader of this job! He knew all the risks! _He_ should have said, no! But he didn't," Arthur started laying the pieces out for her, really trying to place it all together for himself, "He didn't, because he didn't know how dangerous this job was going to be. He thought it was going to be safe, because _I _didn't tell him the risks! Because he didn't tell me his plan! Dammit!" He paced away from her, trying to massage his eyes out of his skull.

He turned back to her, face composed, but eyes still on fire. "Why did he let you two come here with us? Why did you even _want _to be here in the first place." Arthur walked back to her, trying to put it together on his own again. "Saito's our client. He's the one paying for this whole thing. The customers get what they want, even if that's going on the job with us. But you? Why on earth did you want to come here, too? This wasn't in the original plan."

Ariadne kept her jaw tense as she lightly shook her head in the negative. "I can't tell you," she whispered.

She half expected him to start screaming again, but his facade didn't even change. "Why?" 

After taking in a breath, she answered, "The reason I'm here is because Cobb didn't want you to know."

Something flashed across his eyes right before they fluttered closed. Slowly, he counted to ten, taking in a deep breath, before opening his eyes again. "It's Mal, isn't it?" Her eyes quickly darted away before looking back to him, but he had caught it. "It's getting worse."

She didn't look away that time and her face stayed between tense and neutral.

"I knew it," he breathed out, rubbing a head on the back of his neck. "So, the train...?"

Ariadne let a few quiet seconds pass before she decided to answer. "That was him."

His eyes darted back to her, "Are you sure?"

She opened her mouth to answer, letting no sound out. It took her awhile to figure out how to put her thoughts into words. "I- I seen his dream." That caught his attention, but Arthur stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue. Ariadne swallowed, weighing her options.

She trusted Arthur. There was no doubt there. Cobb trusted him, too, but Arthur had been working with Dom for a while now. Which eventually led to Arthur's trust in Dom coming up short, due to the entire 'Mal' thing. He deserved to know a little. Well, actually, he was the point man. Arthur _had_ to know or someone else would end up shot.

After making sure, she decided to go ahead and tell him. "His dream was compiled of a bunch of memories."

"His memories?," Arthur's eyes narrowed. Dreaming about things from memory was a very bad idea and one of the first rules under the words 'DO NOT DO THIS'.

"All of the memories that he's regretted in his life," she clarified, "I didn't see them all, but the train was a part of it." He looked away, trying to digest the new information, but she leaned in to catch his gaze again. Her voice grew down to a low whisper that, if they weren't so close, he would've never heard her. "He's intentially keeping her alive in his dreams," she breathed, "He refuses to let her go."

Another quick shade of anger flashed across his face, but he kept his voice a whisper. "What?," he rhetorically asked, trying to figure that one out. Everything made a lot more sense now. The reason she was appearing everwhere, the reason he avoided the subject all together, everything just fell in place. The only thing that was at the front of his mind, though, at the moment, was Ariadne's first encounter with Dom's wife. "You seen her?"

Her eye almost twitched, but she didn't look away. "Yes."

"Did she hurt you?" It was out of his mouth before he really considered the question.

Ariadne's eyes quickly darted to the floor, as her mind was brought back to Cobb's dream. The wrecked apartment. The menacing and hateful aura radiating from the beautiful woman. She blinked trying to bring herself back to the present.

The first thing she noticed was Arthur's very tense hand clenching her arm and his face barely keeping back the anger that was flowing from his eyes. "Ariadne," his voice hissed, but it betrayed the rest of his stature. The voice sounded scared, sympathetic, worried, with his anger only tracing around it's edges.

It had caught her off guard, but after barely a second, she replied, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat as her voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "She tried." Something else flashed through his eyes, begging her to clarify. "Cobb showed up, right before..."

His jaw clenched again, his eyes tearing away from hers, only to land on the hand that was wrapped around her arm. He quickly let go and jerked away, not saying a word.

She looked to the floor, trying to look anywhere but at him. "I tried to get through to Cobb," she explained, her voice slowly coming back, "but he won't listen to anything I say. Those two are like..." Ariadne just shook her head, at a loss for the word.

"Almost a different breed," Arthur breathed out, understanding. "I tried everything to get through to Dom when Mal died. He wouldn't talk to me, he wouldn't listen," he shook his head too, frustrated now, "He just told me that I didn't understand. That I _wouldn't_. _Couldn't_. He's the one not making sense."

"Can't understand," she whispered, finally getting a grasp on things. "Mal, she..," Ariadne swallowed another lump, trying to continue while feeling Arthur's gaze on her again, "She asked me... if I understood what it was like to be... a lover."

His brow furrowed, but her eyes stayed on the floor as she continued. "She asked me if I knew what it was like to be half of a whole," Ariadne's eyes blinked, bringing her back to the room, "I said that I didn't, so she told me that I couldn't understand." Her eyes traveled up to look at the point man. "Do you know?"

It took him a second to respond to that. His anger had vanished, his worry, his confusion. Even the fear was trying to fade away, as he whispered out the answer. "No."

Her eyes glanced away, any hope she had of getting through to Cobb going with it.

Arthur opened his mouth, but closed again before he could say anything. He noticed that she had failed to catch the double meaning of his one word.

"Arthur." The point man quickly turned, hearing a sudden voice behind him, his hand already wrapped around his gun. Thankfully, before he fired a shot, he noticed that it was Yusuf, who didn't really register the action and continued. "Eames is almost out of time. I need help setting up the PASIV."

Taking in a deep breath, he nodded and left with their chemist without turning back.

Ariadne let out a breath she must had been holding, letting some of the tension flow with it. After a few second thoughts, she went back to check on Saito.

**o0o**

**Woo~**

**As I'm sure you can tell, this is while they're in Level 1. This is all happening during the hour that Eames had to get the combination out of Fischer.**

**Hope you liked it and I have an epic idea for the next chapter. Includes a fight scene! Yay!**

**My first Inception fic, so please let me know if I got the characters and tone right for the movie. I really, really tried. lol**

**Read and Review, please! ^.^**


	2. Paradox

**platypus core- Yay! I really do appreciate critics. I forgot to put that in the last chapter, so I didn't know if anyone would, so thank you. Anyway, I didn't even notice until you said something about the 'I seen's. I live in Louisiana, so I have a southern accent and it tends to come out in typing, too. Been trying to break that habit. I'll look out for that from now on. Thanks again. And thank you for the kind comments, too.**

**ATTENTION: A few of you were confused some, so here ya go! What I meant by the double meaning of Arthur's "no" in the last chapter was that he meant 1- he hadn't ever been a lover and 2- he wants to. I probably could've done that little tid bit better, but we all like a little mystery anyway, right? (Especially if we all like Inception lol)**

**Thank you all for the kind comments! This fanbase is so kind and respectful lol. Thanks to all of you that review. Each and every one of your words are appreciated. ^.^**

**This chapter takes place in the level 2, while Arthur and Ariadne are going to the fourth floor to set the bombs for the kick that doesn't happen due to the lack of gravity later on (aka, my favorite part ever).**

**o0o**

The number two lit up a bright blue, but it was barely noticed by the occupants in the confined space of the mirrored elevator.

Ariadne stole a quick look to Arthur when the three lit up.

His posture was perfect and his face was serious. He stared ahead of him, towards the doors, but his gaze was noticably somewhere else. This wasn't really like him. Yes, he was a very serious person, but he was also the type to take things in stride, mostly to not show how tense he really was. Ariadne figured that was because the little youth that was left in him was clawing to shine through, but not right now. He was intently thinking on something else. It almost scared her. Was he thinking about their job or... the lobby?

The _ding_ almost made her jump as they reached their destination, being proven by the glowing, blue number four. The doors slid open and he walked out into the hallway, apparently coming back to the job. She followed his purposeful strides with her own quiet ones.

She couldn't tell if it was both of their familiar footsteps, the lack of conversation, the intense atmosphere, or just women's intuition, but she eventually voiced her concern in a breath, still looking ahead. "Arthur."

"I know," he breathed back. They were being followed.

A beat of silence passed between them. Arthur eventually spoke. "Two."

"Four," Ariadne said back, hearing two more sets of steps.

A shadow flowed out from one the seperating hallways ahead of them, as it seemed one of the projections had gone around them. "Five," he replied, lightly gripping her elbow and leading them through one of the unlocked doors and into the room. As soon as they were in, she quickly turned and locked the door behind them, trying to buy a little more time.

Arthur pulled out two guns hidden on his person. "Here," he quickly said, tossing one to the architect. She easily plucked it from the air and turned the safety off in one motion, but he wasn't noticing. Arthur walked closer to the door, getting ready for whatever the projections were going to do. "I know this is a little sudden," he said to her, focusing on the door, "but we'll have to teach you to shoot a gun lat-" He was cut off by the sound of a gun cocking and loading.

He turned to her, completely bewildered, as she held the gun to the door in a shooting stance. Needless to say he was a little lost. "You've shot a gun before?," he asked, still trying to whisper.

She looked at him for a second. "Well, not at a person," she whispered back.

"Oh," he blinked, slightly impressed, but trying not to show it.

The quiet knock on the door broke him from his thoughts. He could practically hear them shuffling outside. On a final thought, he quickly turned back to her, "Ready?"

"Ready or not," she said, nodding to door. Either they made the first move or the projections would.

Arthur nodded back and put his hand on the door knob and slowly started counting to three in order to calm himself.

Ariadne shifted her grip on the gun, throwing a chant through her mind. Those things outside were _not_ people. They were projections of Fischer's subconsious that _will _send them both to limbo if given the chance. She couldn't let morals get in the way or it could cost him his life. Well, her... Them. Cost them. She readjusted her grip again, getting frustrated with her mind and desperately wanting to shoot something.

He let out a breath and quickly opened the door, revealing the men in suits standing outside.

She didn't give herself time to think as she quickly pulled the trigger, letting a shot ring out and the projection in front already dropping with a small hole in it's head. Another quickly rushed in behind it's fallen comrade, only focused on Ariadne and not noticing Arthur until it was too late. The point man's gun slammed itself under the projection's jaw, throwing his head back, until Arthur's right hook hit his cheek and tossed him to the floor.

With the small fight, Arthur was now in the open. The third projection flung up his gun, pointing towards Arthur's chest. In a flash, Ariadne ran pass him and into the hallway, rushing the armed projection. She grabbed his wrist and turned her back to him, slamming his arm against her shoulder and causing him to drop the gun, right before she slammed her elbow in his face.

The fourth projection tried to make a grab for Ariadne's arm, but didn't get far as Arthur's arm flung across his neck and slammed him into the far wall. The projection's left fist slammed into Arthur's jaw, but the point man's gun jammed into his ribs, before Arthur let the shot ring out and the projection to drop dead. He quickly turned to point his gun to Ariadne's attacker.

The architect kicked away the projection that she had knocked dizzy from her elbow. He stumbled back and she threw up her gun, shooting him in the space where his neck met his shoulder. The adrenaline in her veins tried to slow as she took in a deep breath, trying to steady herself as she lowered the gun. Arthur did the same, taking a breath of his own.

Suddenly, Ariadne heard shuffling coming from the room that her and her only partner were locked in not five seconds ago. She quickly turned, but something in here made her stall and hesitate at the sight of the projection Arthur attacked earlier quickly rushed her with his gun drawn.

A shot sounded, seemingly louder than the others, making her to quickly look away from whatever had just happened. After a second that seemed to tick by extemely slowly, she noticed that she was still breathing and, upon opening her eyes, noticed that she was in fact still in the hotel. Her breathing was still deep, but less rapid, as her eyes fell on the dead projection in front of her.

Arthur, trying not to start shaking, slowly lowered his gun again taking in wavy breaths. "You okay?," he breathed.

She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and slowly turned to him, trying to calm her breathing. "Yeah," she said, giving shaky nod, "Thanks."

He dropped his eyes away from her, to look at the bodies, making sure they were all dead this time. "Let's go," he nodded down the hall, tucking his gun back under his shirt again.

Ariadne quietly ablidged and continued to walk down the hall, her hand almost lightly wrapped around her gun. She was almost ashamed. What had caused her to hesitate like that? Surprise mostly, she supposed. Still, if he wasn't there, she would be in limbo right now. Then again, what she did almsot costed both of them. She was pretty sure to hear something about this later.

Though, Arthur's mind wasn't on that. He looked again at the projections and slowly followed after her, tightening his grip on the gun to keep his arm from shaking. What had just happened was... strange. He could only think of a handful of times that he had reacted so fast, but in none of them was he that scared. Something was still bothering him, though. A few things, actually. His eyes slowly looked up from the floor to Ariadne's back. Her steps were slower than normal, but the rolling of her shoulders and the way she swayed still showed off her strength.

She passed the intersection of the hall, going down to the end of the hall where it split again, but Arthur stopped in the intersection, her being a few feet ahead of him. Ariadne heard his steps stop, so she slowed and turned back to him. At the same time, he turned to look back at the scene of dead projections. His eyes glided over the bodies.

"Arthur?," he heard her ask quietly, but the sound barely registered with him, as he counted the four dead bodies behind them.

His eyes widened, but before he could think of something other than curse words, it was already happening. The fifth projection came from the hall on his left, pinning Arthur against the far wall with a quick punch.

Ariadne quickly brought up her gun to the projection, waiting for an opening to fire, then his voiced stopped her. "Go!," Arthur screamed at her, causing her to blink and try to register what he said.

The point man kicked himself from the wall, bringing the projection down to the floor with him on top. Before he could get a hit in or at least get his gun out, the projection flipped him over and was now on top. Arthur looked up to find the priority that was suddenly at the top of his list. All he could think, especially after what had just happened, was to keep her safe. "RUN!," he screamed again, a punch connecting to the side of his face.

Time seemed to stop for her, as she took in a deep breath, letting it circulate through her body and her tense shoulders and even the hands gripping her gun. After the breath was gone and before another punched landed on Arthur's struggling form, she did his bidding and ran down the hall, taking a left at the end.

Relief filled Arthur, hearing her steps run away. He quickly dodged a punch aimed for his head tightened his grip around the projections collar, landing his own punch against the man's jaw. This only seemed to anger him, as he, in one swift motion, pulled his gun out to point it at Arthur's head.

Quick footsteps sounded from the hall to their right, headed towards them. Arthur took in a deep breath, that seemed to be the only other sound to his ears, trying to accept what was soon to be his fate if the projections were starting to converge on them. To his surprise, the projection looked up to the sound of the steps, only to look down the barrel of a gun and Ariadne's obviously pissed off expression.

"Paradox," she hissed, squeezing the trigger. The shot brought the projection down and rolled off of Arthur, who was incredibly stunned. The point man, completely forgetting about the act of breathing, looked up at his savior.

Ariadne lowered the gun, trying to catch her breath again, and looked to Arthur. "You alright?"

"Um," something inside him realized that it was now his turn to say something, but what was beyong him. He blinked, quickly looking her up and down, when the answer finally hit him. "Yeah," he said, then smiled as she offered him a hand off the floor and he took it, "Thanks."

She smiled at his expression, as he stood up. Arthur fixed his blazer, a little half heartedly, and quickly noticed he couldn't stop smiling. He didn't know why, but he didn't really care. All he knew was that he was happy and perhaps a little proud with a twinge of eternal relief. "Shall we, Ms. Ariadne?," he said, motioning down the hall in an almost-bow, trying to be the perfect gentleman.

Ariadne tucked the gun under her shirt. "Why thank you, Mr. Arthur," she replied with her own smile and walked beside him, her steps more confident this time.

He wanted to hug her and laugh and, well, he didn't really know the specifics. He just knew he was happy when they took a right at the end of the hall.

**o0o**

**PSHYA! Yeah, I made Ariadne a slight badass. XD She needs it. Anyway, she had a gun in limbo, so gotta explain where that came from, right?**

**So if anyone's confused about how the paradox worked, I made a picture (little diagram thing) showing it, but I haven't posted it yet. If you guys want me to, I will.**

**I didn't proofread on account of that I finished an essay today and suddenly to get this out of the way, too. Next chap plans to be more of a oneshot than a deleted scene. If you guys have any ideas for other chaps, let me hear them.**

**Read and Review =3**


	3. Mr Eames

**Got some more ideas for this fic ^.^ Hope you like them lol.**

**This is another 'deleted scene' from the movie. I noticed that Dom, Eames, Saito, and Yusuf just magically showed up at the warehouse with Arthur and Ariadne during the movie, so I thought I'd fix it a little bit. Oh, yes. Fun with Eames.**

**o0o**

Ariadne had her feet perched on the chair in front of her, trying to study at least a little bit. She figured with the 'job' coming up, she'd have little, if any, time for school, so the goal right now was to get _ahead _of her classmates.

This was not an easy feat for an architecture college student with trigonometry, romanticism history, and a German course. Not to mention that her mind was simply not in the work in front of her. Mazes and pardoxes and projections kept running around her mind... and...

The cap of the highliter, that was wrapped in her fingers, dangled between her lips, while the history text book stayed in her hand, unmarked and probably feeling a little unappreciated. Her eyes scanned over the same sentence for, at least, the hundredth time and, while she was thinking this, it _still _failed to register it's meaning to her. Ariadne had all the intention in the world to read it just _one more time_, but her eyes weren't cooperating as they glanced up again.

Across the room, sitting in front of three computer monitors, only two running, sat Arthur, going through everything he has collected on their mark again. He seemed almost paranoid with it, but, then again, that's probably what made him a good... What did they call it again? Point man?

A loud banging jolted her from her thoughts. It sounded again and, this time, she could pin point it. It was coming from the door, like a loud knocking... Like they were _trying _to be annoying.

Her feet left the chair in front of her, but before she could get up Arthur was already standing, his eyes also on the door. "I'll go check," he said, voice calm, but features stern, "Stay here. I'll be right back."

She did as he said while her eyes followed him. She watched with, admittedly, some interest, as he confidently walked towards to the door where, once again, the banging/knocking continued to come from.

Arthur looked through the small window beside the door in mid-knock, the sound coming up short, meaning they apparently must have seen him. The point man kept his face neutral, looking outside as if thinking something over. Then, he simply turned and walked away, moving back to his desk.

The banging sounded again, louder and more constant this time. Arthur didn't seem to notice, though. He just sat down and went back to what he was doing, tuning out the sound.

Ariadne blinked. "Um... Arthur?," she said over the banging.

He looked up. "Yeah?"

She looked to the door and back to him. "There's someone out there...," she pointed out.

"No there isn't," he said, going back to his work, "Just ignore it. He'll get bored sooner or later."

"Um..."

A muffled voice traveled from the other side of the door. "Do you realize how bloody cold it is out here?," a male voice screamed with a slight english accent.

Arthur looked at his computer for a second, looking something up. After finding what he was looking for, he replied loud enough for them to hear, "It's about forty-seven! I think you'll live!"

Another second passed and the banging continued. Ariadne looked over to Arthur again, as he mouthed, "He'll get bored eventually."

A different sound filled the room, one of a door unlocking. Dom opened the door, keys in hand. "Arthur, play nice," he said, walking in with a bag, as Arthur murmured something back. Another man walked in from behind him, closing the door, a duffel bag over his shoulder.

"Ariadne," Cobb addressed, as she stood and walked over, "This is our forger."

"Eames," the man in question extended his hand to her, with a slightly cocky smile on that handsome face of his. Ariadne returned a gentler, more innocent smile while shaking his hand.

Dom sat his bag on one of the desks and looked over to Arthur, who's eyes were drilling holes in Eames' skull. "Arthur," he said, getting the point man's attention, "We've got a chemist for the job. He'll be coming in with Saito later this evening."

"Saito?," he asked, questioning, but Cobb had already put his hand up, as if he wasn't entirely sure why they're client was there either. Dom unbuttoned the first few buttons on his dress shirt, as he left the room to find a place for his things.

Eames ignored the rest of the world as he continued the conversation. "So, what's a young, beautiful thing like yourself doing in this grungy old place? Locked in with Arthur, no less."

A voice drifted from behind them, "I'm right here," but it wasn't heard.

"Cobb employed me as the architect for this job," Ariadne replied.

"Oh," Eames seemed shocked, "You're awfully young to be dabbling in this dreaming business. And Arthur doesn't count. He's not as pretty as you."

Shuffling was heard behind them, as if someone was raising from their seat.

She gave back a coy smile. This man had charms, but she certaintantly was going for them. Still, it was flattering that he was trying a little. "This is my first job. I've only learned about dreaming a few weeks ago."

"Really?," he took this time to look her up and down, "You must damn good at what you do. I'd like to see your work."

Arthur suddenly appeared beside her, hands in his pockets and tight, polite smile across his face. "You will," he said, "With the rest of us. Later."

"Oh and Arthur," Eames some what greeted, with his own dangerous smile, "Been well, I hope. You sure that you haven't caught Ebola or AIDs or something deadly like that?"

"No, I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Oh, pity. Wonderful news," Eames said, keeping his smile, "Always good to see you."

"Likewise," Arthur replied, voice poisonus.

"So, Ariadne, wonderful name, by the way," Eames remarked, ignoring the point man again, "Do you happen to know what a Forger does? I could teach you some of the tricks if you li-"

Before Ariadne could answer to anything, Arthur was talking for her. "Actually, Eames, I need you to do something for me."

The other man turned back, giving a patient smile. "Yes, Arthur. Anything for you."

"There's a thunderstorm rolling in later this evening," he said with all seriousness, "I was wondering if you could stand on top of the warehouse with a lead pipe for me. I'd really appreciate it."

"I'm so sorry, Arthur, but I'm just swamped today. I suppose you'll have to do that one yourself."

Ariande shifted her eyes between the two men standing in front of her. To anyone looking in, it would seems like a polite conversation between two gentlemen discussing all the happenings in the world. No one would guess all of the death threats flying around.

Eames turned back to her, muting out the point man. "Well, Ms. Ariadne," he said, "It seems Arthur has put his flag on you." He ignored the two 'what's and continued, "But I would still love to show you some forgery techniques and to see your designs for this job. I'll have to find you when our beloved point man is sniffing up your leg." He ignored the 'what's again. "See you around, my dear," Eames said farewell to her, then looked to the other one. "Arthur," he said with a nod and walked pass him.

Arthur was in the middle of trying to form a proper sentence, one finger raised. His eyes followed the forger who walked pass him with a strut.

Ariadne was too busy blushing to notice. She took one quick look to the man beside her, who wasn't looking at her, so she took the opportunity to scurry away.

He seemed to somewhat compose himself. "Ariadne, I'm sorry for that idiot. He-," but when he turned back, she was gone.

When Cobb walked back to the store room, he faintly wondered why Arthur, the red tomato, was standing motionless as if he were about to talk to some air beside. Then he remembered that Eames was here now.

Arthur face palmed while Dom went back to what he was doing.

**o0o**

**Muhahaha. Don't we love Eames?**

**I gave them a sort of 'I love you, but I want you dead' relationship. It seems to fit them pretty well.**

**Critics are awesome. Flames are not, but good critics are appreciated. Especially on if I got Eames' character right.**

**Ok, I have another 'deleted scene' idea, but I can't guarantee how soon it'll come around, so stay tuned, please. ^.^**

**Sorry, but I didn't have time to proofread that last part.**

**Read and Review 3**


	4. Worry

**Hello again! Thank you all very much for all the wonderful feedback that I'm getting for this fic. ^.^ I LOVE YOU! YES, YOU! Anywho~**

**I know this sucks, but Arthur is not in this chapter. (NOOOOOOO) He is mentioned, though... rather frequently. Anyway, I figured that it may have took Aridane and Cobb some time (a good bit of time perhaps) to get to Mal in Limbo, so they start a conversation. DELETED SCENE FUN~**

**And since a lot of you loved Eames so much, he's going to be showing up again in another chapter. Yay for fan service lol.**

**o0o**

This place freaked her out. How could anyone spend fifty years here and still be sane?

Oh, that's right. They didn't. Mal ended up committing suicide to 'escape the dream' and Cobb's projection of her seemed to foil every job he had been on since then, according to Arthur.

Ariadne rubbed her arm again. If she had to spend another hour in this damn place, she would start to go insane, too.

The buildings that lined the street were incredibly close to real as real could get, showing just how good an architect Dom was. The streets themselves were clean, no trash flying around or anything. The horizon was simply incredible against the stark white sky.

These things weren't what was bothering her though. It was the silence. A deafening silence commanded the area. There wasn't even any wind. No people. No projections. It was pretty damn creepy.

She wanted to talk, to pierce the silence, but the fear made her keep quiet. It seemed as if there was a wall to keep her from making any sounds herself and, if she did make a sound, Mal would come out from around the next corner and tap one off in her head.

Her eyes looked again to the man in front of her. His strides were strong and purposeful. He knew exactly where he was going and he knew exactly what he was going to do. Somehow, there was no fear in his steps.

Arthur was right. Dom was a master at hiding things.

Her thoughts then traveled to the dreams that she had left. Like they told her would happen, her memories of them were a bit hazy. She could remember that Saito had been shot and was dieing and was about to be trapped in Limbo. She could remember that little kiss Arthur called a 'distraction' and the bombs he placed under their room, in 491. That last dream though, the fortress, she could remember most of it.

She also remembered that avalanche. The kick they had missed. Yusuf was falling off a bridge, Arthur was suspended in zero gravity, and Eames was fighting off a highly trained army by himself, with what little help Saito could offer. To top all that off, her and Dom were currently in Limbo, with no sure way that they'll ever get back out.

Ariadne looked up at the white sky again.

"You alright?" Her eyes snapped down to see Dom in front of her, still walking but half turned to face her.

"Y-Yeah," she answered, cursing herself out for that falter in her voice, "It's just-... Do you think the others are ok?"

He looked away, turning back to face the front like he was originally doing. "That's a pretty good question," he answered in a lowered voice, then his voice rose back to a normal level, "Yusuf's obviously fine. He made it to the kick, to falling off the bridge, so he had to be doing pretty good at least five seconds ago. He'll be fine." Dom licked his lip, thinking again before continuing. "Eames-," he said, and the fact that he skipped Arthur did not go unnoticed, "Eames'll probably be fine, too. He's well trained, used to be in the military himself. All he has to do is buy us a few minutes, so I think he'll be okay."

The silence lowered on them again.

Ariadne swallowed. "What about Arthur?"

That silence was deafening.

After another beat of the stillness, Cobb continued. "Arthur's the best at what he does and I've worked with him for years. If anyone can make it out of there, he can."

She didn't want to. She _really_ didn't want to, but she did. "... If?"

The fact that there was zero wind registered with her again. It was starting to get harder to breathe.

Cobb's voice was low, but with the silence around them, it seemed to echo off the city. "He's fighting a lot of projections, suspended in no gravity, in a labyrinth, while trying to figure out how to still give us a kick." He stopped walking suddenly, Ariadne coming up short and stopping beside him, while he turned to look at her. "Don't count Arthur out," he said, "It'd be pretty difficult for any of us to do all that, but he's one of the best. He'll do his part and we'll get the kick."

She blinked for a second, realizing that she already knew that and... that wasn't her problem. After a second to compose herself, so she wouldn't falter again, she told him, "I do trust Arthur and I know he'll give the kick at the right time, but... Do you think that _he'll___be _ok_?"

Dom looked to the ground. "That's hard to say." He took a minute to breathe in the humid, still air, thinking her problem over. Suddenly, he glanced back to her. "I seen those looks Eames gives you."

Her mind derailed. "Eh... Excuse me?"

He gave back a light smile, "And I know Arthur has seen them, too."

She still didn't know what was going on, but she just stayed quiet that time.

Dom's smile grew a little and he started walking again. "There's no way that Arthur's going to leave you behind with Eames around."

Ariadne darted her head to watch Cobb continue walking. After a second, she smiled too, and followed after him.

**o0o**

**I know they've been getting shorter and shorter, but this one's extremely short lol. Sorry about that. Hopefully, we'll have some longer ones in the future. I've just been so busy lately ..**

**Anyway, you may have noticed the little triangle XD. I think it makes everything much more fun.**

**Ok, see you guys soon and, again, thanks for the ton of feedback.**

**Read and Review :)**


End file.
